Since education makes a person more likely to leave your region, how do you justify your investment in human capital?

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Interstate Talent Wars

Chris Briem (Null Space) sees an evolution of the Pittsburgh global brand in a Christian Science Monitor article. Again, Pittsburgh is shown in a positive light and the preferred myth celebrated in during the G-20 hype has taken root. Reinvented Pittsburgh is now a cliché. Solely my own speculation, but the groundwork is in place for substantially more in-migration. I still think there is a talent rush in the pipeline.

Demographics will drive change, too. Cities that have expensive housing may find themselves at a disadvantage in attracting young people. “We’re going to be facing what I call the third civil war – it’s going to be a war between cities and metro areas over where young people will settle, because we’re going to have to fill a lot of jobs,” says Barry Bluestone, an economist at Northeastern University in Boston.

Many of these young workers will be going to places where they sense a think-outside-the-box culture. “It’s hard to be a dynamic economy if you’re a culture that does not tolerate risk,” says Susannah Malarkey, who heads a trade group, the Technology Alliance, in Seattle.

First thing you should notice is that there is no mention of retaining young people. Cities that spend any bandwidth on plugging the brain drain will be on the losing side of the war for talent. It's a futile effort with very little (if any) upside.

The second point is the looming talent shortage. Everyone sees it coming, but the suggested coping strategies come up woefully short. I've yet to see any outside-the-box thinking when it concerning talent attraction. The usual suspects are recycling the same tired material and cities continue to eat it up.

Lastly, moving far away to an unfamiliar place is part of the risk culture. This talent will be the greatest prize, not the graduates who stay close to home. A relatively inert population will not be able to compete in the new economy. Attract brains or fail.